Wa shooting: Police hunt for Sokpayiri killers

Police in the Upper West Region are on the heels of suspects at Sokpayiri in the Wa Municipality following the killing of one person who was shot during a land dispute.

The clash was over a government compensation paid a family for a parcel of land taken over by the state for the construction of a school, the Wa Technical Institute.

Forty-three-year-old Adamu Abu-Bakr was also wounded and is receiving treatment at the hospital.

“There was an altercation which led to the firing of gunshots,” reports Joy News’ Upper West Region Correspondent, Rafiq Salam.

Adamu’s wife, Hawa Adamu said her husband was going home after a meeting that discussed the government compensation when he was shot by the assailants amid chaos.

Police say they will leave no stone unturned in efforts to bring the perpetrators to book.

Background

Tension has been looming at Sokpayiri over an acrimonious feud over land compensation for the people and elders of the area.

Sources indicate that the land originally belonged to four sets of families before the government acquisition, creating disagreements about how much each of the families would receive.

Joy News sources say that the value placed on the land is said to have been around GHS800,000.

The Upper West Regional Coordinating Council subsequently stepped in to ask for an out of court settlement and promised to ensure that the compensation du to the families would be paid.

This happened last year and both parties adhered to all deliberations.

However, after the compensation was paid to the affected families, another trouble started brewing when the four families started fighting over speculations that the amount given to the families has been under declared as some of the families claimed that the money is more than GHS800,000.

Some of the families claim that the money is in the region of GHS5000,000 and that half of the said amount has been stashed away from the families by some key members who happened to be signatories to the compensation plan.

The situation got out of hand on Thursday, May 25, 2017, resulting in a sporadic shooting incident until the Upper West Regional Police Command dispatched some men for reinforcement to calm the situation.

There have not been any arrest so far and nobody has been identified in the shooting incident.